CCA Appoints Claire Mitchell As Director of Business Development
We are thrilled to announce that Claire Mitchell has joined our team at CCA as our Director of Business Development. With an extensive background in higher education as a faculty member, administrator, researcher, and consultant, Claire brings a wealth of expertise and keen insight into meeting the needs of potential clients.
Claire’s work in higher education has afforded her opportunities to partner with faculty, policymakers, and practitioners at institutions ranging from small liberal arts colleges to large R1 universities to better understand “what works” to best prepare— and recruit – students to pursue and persist at the postsecondary level. She has worked closely with senior leadership at colleges and universities across the country to support their strategic planning, market research, and brand campaign needs to address degree feasibility and enrollment challenges.
While at the National Center for Postsecondary Research, Claire was part of a team exploring P-16 programs aimed at bolstering postsecondary student enrollment and retention. She leveraged this experience at the American Council on Education where she focused on national remedial education initiatives, challenges facing student success at community colleges, and evolving distance and workforce development platforms.
In the past 5 years, Claire transitioned to higher education consulting where she worked closely with senior leadership at colleges and universities across the country to support their strategic planning and market research needs for better understanding degree feasibility and enrollment challenges. During this time, Claire facilitated the strategic planning efforts at institutions including Oregon State University, the University of Texas-Permian Basin, Maricopa County Community College District, and a variety of other postsecondary institutions and state higher education councils. This work has given her firsthand experience and understanding of the challenges facing many colleges and universities, particularly in an everchanging post-COVID landscape.
Claire’s work has been published by peer-reviewed journals including Community College Research and Practice, Enrollment Management Journal, The Journal of College Student Retention,and The Journal of Youth Development. She has also presented papers and facilitated roundtables at the Association for the Study of Higher Education, American Educational Research Association, Association of American Medical Colleges Research in Medical Education, National Science Foundation, and Council for the Study of Community Colleges.
Raised in a college town, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Claire wanted to pursue a career in higher education from an early age. She holds an Masters of Arts (MA) degree in higher education from the University of Michigan and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in higher education from the University of Virginia. She splits her time between her homes in Charlottesville, VA and Bozeman, MT, where she loves to spend her time backpacking, trail running, and skiing in the mountains with her French bulldog Violet and rescue dog Goldie.
To learn more about our services or explore opportunities to partner, please do not hesitate to contact Claire!